Wedding Videography Gear

A NOTE ABOUT THIS GEAR LIST

Let me be real with you for a second. I love buying wedding videography gear! I like looking for that missing piece, ordering it, tracking the package, seeing it sitting in front of my front door waiting for me, opening it, testing it out, and seeing what I can do with it on a shoot.

However, on their own, even the most expensive pieces of kit can’t make your wedding film. On top of that, having too much gear can actually get in the way. 

The list I’ve made below is what I’ve found to be most helpful in elevating my creative process. I don’t use all of it at the same time. In fact, I don’t bring all of it to every shoot. I treat them as if they’re tools in a toolbox. A quiet, intimate event where my client wants me to take a discreet documentary approach will require a different set of tools compared to a commercial shoot.

It’s important to invest in quality equipment. But in the end, the goal is not to acquire everything the camera store has to offer. It’s to create something beautiful. And from experience, I know it can be done with much less than what I’ve accumulated below.

- kelvin

Essential Wedding Videography Gear

CAMERAS, STABILIZATION, AUDIO, AND LIGHTING

Cameras

The Fujifilm X-H2S is Fujifilm’s flagship camera and it is the cornerstone of my wedding videography gear. It has won many awards such as Digital Photography Review (DP Review) product of the year for 2022 as well as the Gold Award. This is due to its excellent image quality, improved autofocus system, and impressive video resolution, frame rates, rolling shutter, and codecs. It also boasts a vast dynamic range of over 13 stops.

Basically, it’s an incredibly capable camera that has amazing colors and helps me do my job with ease!

Product Links:

wedding videography gear camera
wedding videography gear lenses

Lenses and Filters

I use two lenses for most of the day – a standard prime and a standard zoom. Both have beautiful image quality. The prime allows me to get a blurrier background while the zoom gives me the flexibility in how wide or how tight I want to shoot. During the ceremony, I will have three cameras going. One with the telephoto zoom, another with a telephoto prime, and the last with a standard or wide prime on a gimbal.

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Gimbal

A gimbal helps to stabilize my camera and allows for smooth and fluid camera movements. The gimbal is one of my least used pieces of wedding videography gear. For most of the day, I’m shooting handheld as all of my cameras of internal stabilization. However, gimbals allow me to track what I’m filming have virtually have no shakiness even while running. This gives me the ability to capture dynamic and engaging shots that would be difficult to achieve with a tripod or handheld camera.

Overall, using a gimbal for videography is a great way to add a level of professionalism and creativity to my wedding films.

Product Links:

wedding videography gear gimbal
wedding videography gear tripod

Dependable Tripods and Monopod

I use tripods for several reasons:

  1. Stability: A tripod helps to keep my camera steady and stable. This ensures that my footage is not shaky or blurry, giving it a professional look.

  2. Control: With a tripod, I have greater control over the framing of my shots. 

  3. Flexibility: A tripod helps me get a second or third angle of the same scene, even though I’m shooting solo.

Overall, I don’t use tripods for most of the day but they are absolutely essential during the first look, ceremony, and toasts.

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Professional Audio Recorders

A professional-grade audio recorder is an essential piece of wedding videography gear. I mainly use them during during the first look, ceremony, and reception toasts. I also have a high-quality shotgun microphone on my main camera the entire day to capture the ambient sounds of every scene. Overall, investing in high-quality audio equipment and taking the time to properly set up and monitor my audio can make a big difference in the quality of your wedding videography. To me, what is said throughout the day is one of the best ways to build the backbone of your wedding film’s storyline.

Product Links:

wedding videography gear audio recorder
wedding videography gear shotgun mic
wedding videography gear lav mic

Lavalier and shotgun Microphones

I use lavalier mics and shotgun mics to get high-quality audio in a discreet way.

For example, the Zoom F2-BT is a wireless lavalier microphone system that is small and lightweight. It’s easy to clip on to clothing like jacket lapels. It also has wireless connectivity to my phone so I can check that it’s working perfectly at any time. Lastly, it also has 32-bit float meaning the sound that it record is always good, whether you’re whispering or talking loudly.

I also use a white lavalier mic which is a lot easier to hide under white dresses and suits.

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Lights and Light Stands

I love working with natural light for most of the day. Whether we’re next to a big window, under the shad of a tree, or even under the bright sun, I can make the image look beautiful. However, during certain parts of the day such as the reception, it’s helpful to use lights to create a mood, control shadows, or even to just highlight the toast giver as well as the bride and groom for their fist dance. That’s when this piece of wedding videography gear shines (pun intended).

The lights I bring are powerful yet extremely portable. They don’t even have to be plugged in so there’s little risk for someone tripping. I also have light modifiers to make sure the lights are able to brighten up what I need to without blinding you and your guests.

Product Links:

wedding videography gear lights

4K Drone

Using a drone for wedding videography can provide a unique perspective and add a cinematic feel to your wedding video. Drones can capture stunning aerial views of the wedding venue and surrounding area, providing a bird’s eye view of the scenery. This can add a breathtaking element to your footage that makes it stand out. I offer this service as an add-on but it is always subject to local laws and regulations. For example, if we’re too close to an airport, I may not be able to fly. Likewise, if the weather is poor, flying a drone would not be advised.

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Bags, Cases, and Organization

Bringing minimal gear for wedding videography has a number of benefits, including mobility, less distraction, and less set-up time. Because of this, I only bring what I need with a couple of back-ups. I pack and organize all of my gear and keep everything tidy throughout the entire project.

Overall, bringing minimal gear for wedding videography helps me capture better footage, be more mobile and inconspicuous, and make post-production easier and more efficient.

Product Links:

wedding videography gear camera monitor

Everything Else

What I’ve listed above is what I’d consider as the most important pieces of wedding videography gear. However, there are a few other things such as batteries and memory cards that I want to mention. I bring 6 times the memory space I need. I also bring enough batteries that I never have to worry about having to charge them the entire day.

There’s also one piece of gear that I always have on my main camera which is the Atomos Ninja V. It allows me to create a back-up recording of whatever I’m shooting. I’ve never had a memory card issue but it gives me an extra layer of piece of mind knowing that I have a back-up of my most important footage. The large screen also makes it easier to frame and focus my shots. The Ninja V includes professional features like waveform monitoring, focus peaking, and false color, which can help me get the best possible footage.

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What I Wear

GOOD LOOKING THREADS I CAN MOVE IN

This is one of the few photos I have of myself all dressed up and doing my thing. Thanks to Loren from Alante Photography! 

For weddings, I typically wear a suit but I dress up or down depending on the dress code. My goal is to fit in with your guests. Not only does this help people feel more comfortable around me but it also helps me blend in to film more of those authentic, unposed moments.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS ONLY HAPPEN ONCE

Essential Editing Tools

GORGEOUS SHOTS + PRACTICE RUN FOR THE BIG DAY 

Computer and Editing Software

I use a program called Final Cut Pro X which is a professional video editing software developed by Apple. Just like the rest of Apple’s products, it has a user-friendly interface and is super reliable. It also has advanced tools which are constantly being updated and improved to allow artists like me create high-quality videos with ease.

Product Links:

wedding videography gear editing software Final Cut Pro x
wedding videography gear musicbed music licensing

Music Licensing Service

Musicbed is a music licensing platform that provides a vast library of high-quality, royalty-free music for use in creative projects, such as films, videos, commercials, and podcasts. 

One of the unique features of Musicbed is its emphasis on quality over quantity. The platform only accepts a small percentage of music submissions, ensuring that the music available is of the highest quality.

Product Links (get your first month free with this link):

Studio Sound Monitors

Studio monitors are designed to provide an accurate and detailed representation of audio, making them an ideal choice for video editing.  The Yamaha HS Series are some of the best in the industry.

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wedding videography gear studio monitors

Hard Drives for Back-ups

A QNAP RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks) is a storage system that uses multiple hard drives to improve data reliability, performance, and capacity.

As the name implies, the RAID uses multiple hard drives to store the same data. This means that if one drive fails, your data will still be safe on the other drives. In addition to this, I also keep a back-up on two other separate hard drive for triple redundancy.

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GORGEOUS PHOTOS + PRACTICE RUN FOR THE BIG DAY 

conclusion

that’s a wrap!

The gear I listed above doesn’t even come close to being a comprehensive list of what I have in my gear closet! And if we included all of the software, programs, books and other educational material it takes to run this business this page would never end. 

Deep down I know that it’s not the camera that makes someone a good videographer. My best work is the result of understanding what my clients are looking for and knowing the tool in my hand as if it were an extension of me – when the creation of the art becomes instinctual and flows without feeling like it’s effort. To summarize, I hope that I evolve more than my gear list!

Sample gear prep checklist

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Self-prep Checklist